Tyler

Glasnow

Glasnow worked a pair of scoreless innings before the Nationals put a run on the board with two hits in the third. A walk and a double plated a second run in the fourth. Glasnow would settle in for two more scoreless frames, completing six at 101 pitches. He collected nine strikeouts on 12 whiffs. The 32-year-old right-hander has allowed four runs with a 15/3 K/BB ratio across 12 innings over his first two starts. Glasnow lines up for a start against the Rangers in Los Angeles next Saturday.

Glasnow was able to work six innings in his first start of the season; in encouraging sign for a pitcher that has at times struggled to get deep in games early in the year. He generate seven swings-and-misses while procuring six strikeouts, while issuing just one walk. Glasnow’s health is going to be something fantasy managers monitor for the rest of his career, but when he’s on the bump, there aren’t many better. He shouldn’t have any issue handling the Washington lineup next weekend.

Sheehan will follow Opening Day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Tyler Glasnow closing out a three-game season-opening series against Arizona. It’ll be Roki Sasaki followed by Shohei Ohtani early next week to kick off a three-game set against the Guardians at Dodger Stadium. There are some reasons for mild concern with Sheehan fantasy-wise after experiencing some diminished velocity this spring but he’s still going to be a viable mixed-league fantasy contributor. It’ll be Justin Wrobleski operating in a piggyback role, most likely with either Sheehan or Sasaki the first time through the rotation.

A 10-run third inning decided this one quickly. Glasnow got whiffs on exactly half of the 36 swings against him. His spring ends with a 3.45 ERA and an outstanding 26/3 K/BB in 15 2/3 innings. He’s pretty obviously not going to contribute for six months this year, but it looks like he might be especially good early on.

Glasnow has looked like his usual self in this late-spring outing, averaging 96.1 mph on his four-seam fastball, while generating eight swinging strikes and throwing 79 pitches (46 strikes). The Dodgers are clearly going to proceed cautiously from a workload standpoint, prioritizing Glasnow’s late-season availability over everything else. That mindset caps his realistic upside from a volume standpoint, but Glasnow remains a strong SP3 in shallow mixed leagues. He’ll be a top-30 range starter off the board in most fantasy drafts this spring.

Jordan Lawlar led off the top of the first with a homer, but Glasnow retired 13 of 15 batters afterwards, getting four strikeouts with his curveball. There’s an argument that Glasnow is a little overrated for fantasy purposes at this point, as he’s still an injury risk and probably doesn’t have quite as much upside as he used to. He’s looking strong right now, though, with his velocity right at his 2025 norms.

Glasnow managed two scoreless innings before giving up two singles and a walk in the third. The Dodgers were still up 2-1 when he left, but Jacob Frost allowed both inherited runners to score after entering with two outs. Glasnow’s velocity today was a little better than his 2025 average, but the command wasn’t quite there yet. He threw first-pitch strikes to just five of the 13 batters he faced.

Glasnow was sharp in his spring debut, with his fastball up one mph and his slider up two mph from last year. He actually retired six in a row before giving up a single to start the third inning and getting removed. He threw 32 pitches, 22 of which were strikes.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said during an interview with MLB Network shortly afterwards that Roki Sasaki will return to the rotation mix once spring training rolls around after an impressive closer cameo during the postseason. Roberts hinted the Dodgers will get “creative” early in the season with their pitching staff — code for something that looks and behaves like a six-man rotation without actually calling it one — as they look to preserve Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow for the long haul. Nearly every contender has adopted some version of this strategy by now, and it’s the logical path for Los Angeles. We expect Emmet Sheehan to grab a spot with Sasaki also factoring into the mix during the early portion of the year.

Glasnow needed just three pitches to record a save during Friday night’s battle and the expectation is that he was going to be available out of the Dodgers’ bullpen for multiple innings if needed on Saturday. How this side issue changes that plan is unknown at the moment. It’ll be another wrinkle to work through during a do-or-die Game 7 for the World Series title on Saturday evening in Toronto.